Fireworks Night In England, we like to be a little different from the rest of the world. Take fireworks festivals, for example. In every other country they are held in summer. That's obviously the best time: warm weather to enjoy, and clear skies to see the fireworks. Not here. We have our Fireworks Night on 5 November, when it is damp, cold, and misty. Other countries use fireworks to celebrate success: sporting victories, musical events, weddings. Not here. We don't find success very interesting. We prefer heroic failure. Fireworks Night celebrates an attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605 that went wrong - the 'Gunpowder Plot'. On 5 November that year, Catholic terrorists smuggled 36 barrels of gunpowder into a cellar there. They hoped to bring down the government. However, they were caught just in time, and executed in a very slow and grisly manner. So we celebrate this day every year with fireworks. Some of us celebrate the fact that they failed. Others celebrate the fact that they nearly succeeded. Here is something else very English. Fireworks Night is also called 'Guy Fawkes Night'. Guy (or Guido) Fawkes was only a minor member of the terrorist group, the man who was going to light the fuse; the leader was called Robert Catesby. But Robert Catesby is a boring name. It sounds like an estate agent or a solicitor. Guy Fawkes is an intriguing, mysterious-sounding secret agent's name, so we remember him instead. 5 November has yet another name: Bonfire Night, because we build a big bonfire and burn an effigy of Fawkes, called a 'guy'. Traditionally, children display their guy in the street and collect money to buy fireworks, saying 'Penny for the Guy'. In 1605 a penny bought a bag of gunpowder, but now it won't buy a match. So if you see children with a good guy, give them 20p or so. Don't just give them a penny or you may hear some English they didn't teach you at school. There are public fireworks displays in every town on 5 November. The biggest and most extreme example is in Lewes, in Sussex. Fireworks are thrown everywhere, even in the tightly crowded town streets. A large effigy of the Pope is burnt. But we like to be fair in England, and so effigies of government ministers are burnt too. More interesting, however, is to visit a private fireworks display at somebody's house. Sometimes these are family occasions, but often they are adults only. Many people have their own back-garden bonfire and fireworks party. Show enough interest and you should get an invite. The fireworks are not really that impressive. What is interesting is the rituals and customs you will see. If invited to someone's fireworks display, here is what to do. Clothing You will be standing outside in the bitter cold for a few hours, so take gloves, a hat and plenty of very warm clothes. However, if you are standing very close to the bonfire, you will be much too hot, so make sure you can undo them easily. If you are standing right next to the bonfire, make sure your clothes are flame-retardant. Food and drink On arrival, you may be given 'mulled wine' - hot red wine with spices and fruit. So don't worry if you find a piece of apple or orange floating in the glass. It does not mean that your hosts did the washing-up badly. Alternatively, you may be given a mug of soup. If you find a piece of apple or orange floating in that, then your hosts did do the washing-up badly. At some point, you may see your hosts rummage in the embers of the bonfire and dig out a big lump of silver foil. They will unwrap the foil and give you the contents. Again, don't worry. It is not a small woodland mammal. It is only a potato, nicely cooked in the fire. Compliment the hosts on the taste. So much better than microwaved potato, you say. (Your hosts probably microwaved them first to make sure they were cooked, and put them in the fire for show.) Sparklers You will be given some sparklers. When they are alight, everyone tries to write their name in the darkness. If your hosts are upper class, grab the sparklers first - they might have long double-barrelled names, which would use up all the sparklers. Ooh! Aah! There is no language problem during the fireworks display. The only two things anyone says are 'ooh!' and 'aah!', but you must use them in the right place. 'Ooh!' is used for rockets when they explode in the sky, and for ground-based fireworks that light the garden up for a few seconds. 'Aah!' is used for Catherine Wheels as they whirl round. It can also be used as an exclamation of surprise when a firecracker goes off next to your foot. There is always one firework in the packet that fails to light. It is always very funny when this happens. Traditionally, rockets were launched from empty milk bottles. However, most milk is sold in cartons these days, and so wine bottles are often used instead. This gives your hosts a good excuse to open another bottle during the evening. If there is a bonfire, the evening finishes when the bonfire goes out. There is one more very English thing about Fireworks Night. On the night, everyone says a famous rhyme: 'Remember, remember, the 5th of November. Gunpowder, treason and plot.' There is more of the rhyme, but no-one can ever remember it. We are not very good at history.

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